Members Advice on Bankruptcy > Reviews (8)

Here we go , quite an embarressing situation to discuss. But i thought if it helped someone ,somewhere contemplating whether to become "bankrupt" , then its worth while!

We have struggled for many years trying to pay off debts, consolidating loans, taking more credit out to pay bills. ( Im sure its something most people can relate to ...we found it got dramatically worse after baby number three! Icouldnt afford childcare, and have found it hard finding work around my husbands hours!)

Things came to a head in july this year, i realised how bad things actually were and contacted the cccs( charity based helpline) After the consultation the man recommended we make our selves bankrupt( which i really was against!) We had a surplus of £21 pounds a month after essental things had been budgeted for , to pay £1200 pounds to creditors!

We began making reduced payments to creditors ,some of which only recived 10p! But this was all worked out properly by the cccs.

At the end of July we decided, after trying every other posibility to go forward and do it!

Rang the court , who sent me the forms to fill in! Ok , i know they had to know all about my situation , but i wasnt prepared for so much paperwork! I think it took me two weeks to fill out!

Once the paperworks filled in you have to ring the court back and arrange a date to petition your bankruptcy. We were given the 13 th Aug, and that was the longest two weeks of our life! I can honestly say it affected me menatlly and emotionally, i couldnt sleep or eat , it was awful!

We began transferring wages,benefit, etc from our ordinary current accounts, as all accounts would be closed as soon as we were declared bankrupt!
It is also advisable to pay all electricity and gas accounts up to date, and pay a little extra, so they wont be part of the bankruptcy order, and you can remain on a quarterly bill.( otherwise they may request you pay a deposit as security!)
Also , BT wont let undischarged bankrupts have accounts. So we had to ask a family member to put it in their name!

The day for the petition of bankruptcy i felt physically sick, and scared, and not knowing what to expect. But i shouldnt have worried everyone at the court were very helpful.
The clerk went through our forms, helping us with anything that'd we'd left out. We had to pay a £450 charge (each) to become bankrupt, which i thought was ridiculous, if you havent the money to pay the creditors where you going to find £450?! We managed to sell our car, and use our housekeeping money to raise the fees.

The clerk then takes the forms to the judge to read through. He can request to speak to you himself if theres anything he wants to question, but he didnt want to speak to us. He signed the forms, declared us bankrupt, then we were given a copy of the bankruptcy order and that was it!

Or so we thought! We got bombarded with calls from one of the creditors, who wouldnt take the details of the order and the official recievers address. They hounded us on the phone till yesterday, I was under the impression that as soon as you were made bankrupt all your creditors were made aware!....

APPARENTLY NOT! They are only notified after the official recivers interview!

Well even more forms to fill out, more sleepless nights later,! We are now awaiting the official recivers appt on Thursday, which still scares me, but which i am told is a formality!

If anyone out there is afraid of the stigma or credit rating - please dont be! Im not ashamed of admitting that i am bankrupt, and if i can help anyone else through the situation , i will!

The best place to get advice initially is through one of the many debt help lines. ( Please make sure you choose a free advice line - theres so many out there trying to make money at the expense of others!
A few to name www.cccs.co.uk, and the national debtline. And theres always the cab too!

A great web site full of information and support is :
www.debtquestions.co.uk

There is a resident expert offering advice, and a forum with advice on all debt problems!

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!

UPDATE!!!!

I had my appointment with the official reciver this morning! Car had got a flat battery curtoursy of my adorable children, so i had to go ahead with the children at home whilst i had the appointment! Awhole hour , and with 3 screaming kids later , we were donE!

WHAT THE OFFICIAL RECIVER GOES THROUGH AT INTERVIEW!

Right she starts by introducing herself, and running through the terms of bankruptcy. She then states how long your bankruptcy will be for, and if there are any restrictions.
Next she goes through the whole "statement of affairs" ( the form that you took to court!) asking additional information. For example why did you get yourself into debt? what properties you've owned and what you have done with the money made on them? What each individual debt was for, to name but a few!
Its nothing to worry about ( ok i say that but i didnt sleep or eat last because i was worried,lol!!)

OUR OUTCOME!

Myself and my husband will remain bankrupt untill August 2005. We have been told my husband will have to pay £50 to the reciever because he put down that he spent £50 on tobacco each month!( they wouldnt include this!)

We plan to appeal as the amount we put down for food each month is about £80 less than we spend a month.( We put a reduced amount on the budget form as the guy from the cccs told us not to make it high , or they will not accept it!

So stay tuned, and ill update when i have got a response to the appeal!!

all done!!

Well recieved a letter from the official reciver today re: our revised financial statement!
We havent got to pay anything to them ( phew!!) Although hubbys tax code now goes down to zero, and all this goes to the reciever! He has got to submit 3 more payslips to monitor his wages!

Still getting debt recovery agencys sending letters - but what can they do ...NOWT!!